June 26, 2012

It Might Get Loud (2009)

Hey kiddos, I'm back with a short series on some documentaries I've seen recently that I enjoyed.Simul-posted here: The Movie Advocate

It Might Get Loud
Who is
this movie for? We have Jack White, Led Zepplin man, and that man from
U2 who thinks he's cool because he's renamed himself an edgy word. This
is a movie for people who don't really have a deep interest in music.
Their favorite type of music is "whatever is on the radio, played at a
reasonable level." They only go to concerts twice a year, and even then
it's only because their friends are going. They also think they have
deep appreciation for music because they are apt air guitar players
(which is not to diminish the work of people who actually are apt air
guitar players). They recognize Led Zepplin man, U2 guy, and Jack
White, and probably own a few CD's featuring these men, but couldn't
really tell you anything about them. If you haven't guessed it by now,
I'm not a huge fan of Zep or U2. I'm going to just put it out there and
say that their music bores me. This does not speak to the merit of
their work, but simply to an opinion I hold.Even if I enjoyed
these bands, this gathering of these three men makes no sense. I get
that they are all considered "guitar gods," but this whole thing seems
like a creepy Harry Potter/Toph Beifong slashfic. Good characters on
their own, and in their own universe, but bringing them together is just
a manipulative cash grab.

It appears that no one knows
this more so then Jack White. The movie is split into several
chapters, each chapter spending the same amount of time on each person.
The chapters explore the roots of their inspiration, their equipment,
their playing style, their personal and musical history, and maybe a few
other things. Each chapter starts with Jack, then goes to Zepman, then
U2guy, repeat. It culminates with the three of them meeting in some
warehouse with their guitars set up, and they "jam." After suffering
through the first 2 segments about Zep and U2, I skipped the rest of
their parts, and watched just the Jack White parts, finally finding
myself at the end of the movie, watching the most awkward three guitar
jam session ever.

Jack White knew what he was doing.
If I remember correctly, during his segments that he filmed for the
movie, he is rarely even holding a guitar. This is an affront to
the concept of the movie, and no one seemed to notice. On top of all
that, the first scene in the documentary has Jack White making a slide
guitar, and simply saying "who says you need to buy a guitar."
He starts the movie with an action that stands in complete opposition
to the playing styles of Zep2Men. And I think he's right. He is
arguing that it is never the equipment, but the person behind the
equipment that makes good music. He talks about how one of his favorite
songs is recording of Son House clapping and singing. This is a documentary about guitars and guitar players, and he is essentially saying that you don't need guitars.

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